Fate Unwinds
by madzwild
Summary: In ancient times, there was a city that had to call on an ancient ally. The thing is, no one has contacted the allies in over 500 years, and no one knows where they are now...Can a mere prince and his two friends save an entire kingdom?
1. Chapter 1

madzwild: Hi everyone! This is my second story that I am posting! Sorry it has been a bit since I last posted, blame college, but do not worry! My sweet friend Maxilos-va, is helping write some of this story! Isn't that sweet?

Maxilos-va: This is my first fic attempt, co-authoring alongside the lovely madzwild. At some point I will begin posting my own original work, but for now I am happy to work under her.

madzwild: Well there you go! Such a darling apprentice that I have! Now, shall we continue on with the story?

Prologue

_December 27__th__, 1912_

_The crew is all currently nursing their hangovers and stomachaches from the massive party that we had. Spending time away from family can be pretty harsh, especially during the holidays, although it did nothing to stop from the consumption of alcohol and food. Luckily, our group leader is allowing us to recover before we head back to the village ruins outside of Marsa Alam. These ruins are nothing special; it seems to be a city that was near the sea during the time of the Pharaohs. Though there are a couple of people that would beg to differ. This one fellow, Avery, has this feeling that there is something more to the place. He is not the only one, his friend agrees, stating how the layout is different than a normal city of Ancient Egypt. Even as I agree with them, there is no way that a small crew, like we, would discover a part of history that has been lost. My young wife, always a teaser, would joke constantly on how I would be the one to discover the eighth wonder of the world. My name will be in newspapers all over the world, citizens will recognize me on the streets, asking for stories and ideas. She would always talk about how I will help the world become more intelligent, more knowledgeable about history. Always trying to keep my chin up. My lovely Mable was ecstatic when she found out about the crumbling buildings that we found. She is always so optimistic about everything. Even though the ruins are nothing special, knowing that I was part of a team that discovered a simple fishing village that was apart of our history is good enough for me. _

_December 30__th__, 1912_

_The recovery of the crew took longer than anticipated. No matter, as of now, our transportation to the ruins is underway. It is quite strange, as I look back on it now, the outline of the ruins do appear different than a regular village or city would. Right now, we are going back to try to find artifacts or pieces of the society that once lived there. As far as we can understand it, there are three sections of the city; the foundation of what was once presumably a palace stands at the head of many smaller foundations, which upon further examination, we believe, will be a city or market area. Finally there appears to be a religious center on the opposite end of the city market area. We presume that the majority of our artifacts will come from the ancient religious grounds. _

_January 1__st__, 1913_

_An unfortunate event has occurred at the site of the ruins. One of our teammates, Avery, appears to have slipped into a coma after touching what seemed to be a harmless artifact. It is very alarming to how it happened. As we were digging and brushing the sand and dust away from anything that caught our interest, Avery exclaimed how he found what could possibly be a break through in our findings. When we joined him in the foundation of the house we removed the dust and sand carefully with our tools the glyphs and carving on the front of the monolith were unlike anything I'd seen. Almost alien in nature. When Avery touched the monolith though he slipped into unconsciousness. He's remained in this state for a few days now and we're unsure if he will ever wake up. He remains unresponsive to all tests we can bring to mind. If his condition persists I'm afraid I'll have to inform his family that he's beyond us now._

_As near as we can tell he was shocked into unconsciousness, by some sort of energy surrounding the monolith, it doesn't effect our tools but organic matter is overloaded with energy and becomes semi-inert. I can only assume that it was this same energy that put Avery in his current state. _


	2. Chapter 2

'_Where…..where am I?' Avery did not know where he was, and it was starting to scare him. He was floating around in an abyss, all black. _

'_How long have I been floating?' _

_It seemed like forever, yet it didn't feel like time passed at all. Suddenly, little trails of light appeared all around, like trails behind a comet, or the after affects of a sparkler on a camera. They were comforting in a way, an escape from the inky night that is swallowing him. _

'_But why am I here? Is it because of the monolith? All I did was touch the damn thing.'_

_The swirls of light, without warning, started moving rapidly and jerky, as if they had gone berserk. They all started coming together to form a shape. The shape was changing erratically; Avery had no idea what it could be shaping into. The lights slowed down enough that he could actually see the form of a shimmering being. The being's features on its face looked surprised and confused. The being's eyes looked around until they spotted Avery. Then they changed into a look of relief. They stared at each other until it spoke, "My my, what have we here? Are you the chosen one that I have waited centuries for?"_

"_Uhhhh, what?"_

"_You are The Chosen One, the person to wake me from my slumber. In return, I tell you the stories of this civilization so that they'll never be lost in history."_

"_Listen, I do not know what the hell is happening, but I am not certainly this 'Chosen One' that you speak of."_

"_Oh but that is not true! The Minsuu brought you her didn't it?"_

"_What? You mean the monolith? Well I guess it did bring me here, ever since I touched it…"_

"_Then it's you! Finally, I shall bring down the knowledge of my people to you and be able to rest in the afterlife with everyone else."_

"_It looks like I don't have much choice now."_

"_Very well, Chosen One, I shall now tell you the tale of one of the most important times that my people have faced. As I can tell from what you are wearing, it was a very long time ago…"_

The desert was unforgiving. I knew that more than anyone, and it was solely by virtue of our expeditions down to the river that we were able to survive on this barren strip of land.

The river gave us life and took it away. It was the first thing we learned living on this landscape; when the tides stayed level, we had the best land in all the crescent, but when the gods grew angry, they sent floods to soak our fields and kill our crops. These periods were known as the famine years.

The villagers I walked past all gave a friendly wave. I really just wanted to be alone by the waterfront. Watching the river was one sure means of entertainment we had available, and we held it dear.

In recent years, we had added the threat of raiding parties to our survival risks. They appeared to come from the south, and they were silent, and efficient, killers. When they did raid, they didn't give a thought to whom they killed, or what they took. We were helpless before them and had no allies to turn to. I sighed as I watched the green waters of the Nile pass by the dock below me; surely there was some way I could save my people? But what could I do? I am but a merely prince, not yet a king. My father is a good man; he cares about everyone in the whole city. Yet, he cannot come up with a solution on how to stop these ruthless people whose sole purpose is to terrorize and conquer. Our military is enough to hold them back, but for how long? We are slowly becoming outnumbered by them, I do not know how they are getting more recruits, but it is concerning. Traders and merchants bring the city tales of other kingdoms that have gone dark. We need help and fast, but my father refuses to find any help, such a stubborn man. The river did not seem so entertaining anymore. What I needed was to find my friends. I have many friends, but there are only two that I would consider my best friends. Both used to be homeless, nothing but street rats. Then there was one day that they saved me. Or rather helped me, and their rewards were to be adopted by my father's top generals of his army. Now, the two are training to take their adopted fathers' places when the time comes, the same as when I become king.

When I walked to the nondescript wooden door of the generals' quarters beside the palace, it burst open and my friends Mariku and Akefia came barreling out at me, skidding to a halt as their sandals met the sand.

"Atem! Your most holy royalness is an honor," said Akefia sarcastically.

"Atem," Mariku inclined his head slightly.

"How are you both this day?" I asked, knowing Akefia would answer for Mariku.

"We got out of daily training not even an hour ago, our fathers were meeting about the raids that happened in the south city. They say we're unable to defend it, may even have to pull back," Akefia's voice got more solemn as he spoke, Mariku simply nodded sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I've spoken to my father on the matter but he insists we have no other action available to us than to defend to the best of our abilities." I sighed in exasperation.

Akefia jumped on that, "There are other ways though!" He subsided quickly when I looked up in surprise and murmured an apology.

Mariku and I looked to each other and shrugged. We were used to Akefia's frayed thinking. We set off to Mariku's, a simpler house on the corner of the street next to the market. When we walked in, his mother sat in the kitchen making lunch for her husband. When we walked in I waved to her and she bowed low murmuring, "Welcome to our home Prince Atem." I nodded back to her and went with my friends into a different room.

We pulled a game of Senet from a shelf on the wall and began to play, as the hours passed Mariku's mother brought food to us. As the day wound down and dusky light shown through the window slits I stood up and bid my friends a good night.

As I strolled down the street back to the palace, I thought about my fathers insistence that we were helpless. I knew we could seek help elsewhere, but where? As I pondered this, I found myself at the doorstep of our royal quarters. Dinner was very nearly ready, so I shed my clothes in favor of a fine linen robe.

Dinner was a business affair which left me exhausted as I walked to my bedroom. I collapsed onto my bed and fell into dreamless sleep. When I awoke, I could hear screams and the sound of a roaring fire. I dashed out of the front door beside my father to see that we were being raided. People were running in disarray and being cut down before the swords of these assassins. Without thinking I ran towards the generals quarters, eager to see if Mariku and Akefia were safe.

When I arrived, things didn't seem to be well at all. Mariku's house had been ransacked. The only solace was that there was no blood. I dashed out the door to Akefia's home, and the situation, for a moment, appeared to be disastrous before I saw the body of a raider facedown on the floor with great slashes across his midsection. I knew that this was the work of Akefia's father, one of our greatest sword masters.

I moved to the door and as I stepped to the street; I felt a presence come near me. I scanned the street and saw no one but a boy from our city. Kalim I believe he was called. Before I could warn him to get to safety my way was blocked by a raider jumping down from the roof of a house down the street. He held a set of terrifying throwing knives, and, in that moment, his arm reared back to throw. I saw Kalim begin moving towards me. Even as the knife flew through the air, I knew what was going to happen and I let out a yell as Kalim's body intercepted the knife meant to kill me.

"G-," He managed before the light left his eyes and he expired.

I sprinted down an alleyway to the palace, waving for the guards to allow me in. They broke ranks for me to run to my father. He swept me into his arms and held me tight to him.

"Atem! You will never run from me like that again! I could have lost my only son. I can't take that loss." He was near tears.

I chose not to mention, at this moment, that I had in fact nearly lost my life, and that close shave had my heart pounding even now. My father ushered me into the palace and motioned for the guards to close the doors, I slid down the back of the door and held my head between my knees as I listened to the chaos outside.

After what seemed like hours, the fighting and clashing of swords had ended. Everyone was exhausted, and it seems that my father finally snapped.

"That is it! I cannot handle this any longer! I cannot watch more of MY people being attacked by these…these fiends!"

"Well, what do you suggested we do, your majesty?"

"I call a meeting first thing in the morning. We need to come up with a plan to deal with this situation. I thought it would be a minor problem, but after tonight…"

"I understand father, and I agree. Let us all rest, and in the morning, we shall come up with a solution to end this reign of terror."


	3. Chapter 3

**madzwild: watzup futhermuckers! XD Sorry for my language…not. Anywhore, I believe it is time for chapter 2! Yea! Sorry if it is a little late, it's my apprentice's fault. really, he has such bad grammar. Blame him….**

**Maxilos-va: The lovely madzwild clearly doesn't understand the art behind my flowing words, run-on sentences though they may be… **

**madzwild: oh I know the art, however the hideousness makes me flinch…Now on with the story!**

Ch. 2

Atem hardly got any sleep last night. The adrenaline rush he experienced was still coursing through his veins. Streams of thoughts were racing in his mind about what happened the night before, all scattering about different matters.

'_That boy gave his life for me…why?_

_Dear Ra, my friends could have been killed. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if that happened…_

_Why is this happening? Why now? What is going to happen?_

_What will my future be?'_

Sun began to pour into his room from his balcony as though the light is water from the Nile closing in on the fields. Blinking as the soft light reached his eyes, Atem walked towards the opening. The air was still crisp from the absence of the sun, but that was beginning to change as the ball of fire rose from the horizon.

Breathing in deeply, the prince tried to calm his nerves, not realizing that his hands were trembling. Something needs to be done and it needs to be done soon.

'_I cannot even imagine what will happen if we can't come up with a solution. If something awful were to happen to my people…'_

Atem could not finish the thought.

'_No. What I need to do right now is to get ready for my father's meeting. I wonder if I really have to bother with the formal robes given the situation?'_

When I got dressed, I checked myself quickly in the mirror. I had put everything on correctly so I deemed myself ready to face the royal advisors in my father's court.

The solemn atmosphere as I entered the room made me pause for a moment. I looked up and down the table to see that the oldest of our elders had arrived. I bowed respectfully to him and took my place beside my father.

My father stood to address his advisors, "We are gathered here, on the day following the third raid on our city, to discuss a topic we've been reluctant to cover. We need to go to war."

The entire chamber erupted; our civilization was a peaceful one. The very idea of war was unthinkable, the task, impossible. Our fears were allayed though as my father motioned for silence in the chamber. "From the time of the first raid, many moons ago, I have spoken with our generals and brought our military to a wartime capacity. We have more men than ever, willing to fight and die for this city."

It was clear that this was a surprise to the elders; father had kept this information secret. I was the only other soul that knew, I also had a rough idea of what my father would say next…

"There is however, one problem. For every man we have on the field there are an estimated two to three raiders, we simply don't have enough people to fight them. It doesn't help when I say that our military is at its full strength. Unless, we have our trainees join in on the battle and with them, we just might have enough."

'_Wait, what? No!'_

"Your majesty, surely you don't actually intend on having our future soldiers go to war…" One of our priests spoke.

"I do not want them to," the king spoke. "But we have to realize that we simply aren't enough to take them."

The elders were silent, their heads bowed as though they were already broken. One though, the one we simply called 'The Ancient', stood tall and faced my father. "You need to open the archives, within you shall find the answer to our predicament, I'd recommend starting in the ancient alliances section…" He stood and walked out, his robes swishing over the stone floor.

The silence lasted for thirty seconds before my father broke it. "Its been years since we've bothered to examine the contents of our own archives, it's well past time we made use of the resources we have available to us."

With that my father spun on his heel and left the room, dismissal evident in his demeanor. The elders stood and made their way out of the chamber across the shattered steps of my home. The archives was a long walk through unsavory parts of the city…

I made my way alongside the elders, making sure to wave and give condolences to those who had lost more than just their homes. The city was not completely destroyed but its culture was permanently marked.

Akefia and Mariku noticed me as I was consoling a child who had lost her father in a fire. They waited respectfully for me to stand and turn to them before Akefia spoke, in an uncharacteristically serious voice, "What can we do to help, your highness?"

I pointed for them to follow the elders. "We are going to the archives to find records of existing alliances, hopefully there are cities that are still around so they could bring us aid."

Both nodding, they fell in behind the elders. Akefia turned to face me again saying, "Don't mourn for the dead, think of us celebrating after the vengeance we will wreak on the killers."

Nodding as well, I let go of the little girl's hand after she seemed to have calmed down and followed the group into the old section of the city.

I knew that at one point the palace had been across from the archives that we now sought. Ages ago, before the current line of kings, the palace was rebuilt closer to the river. This was to ensure easier transport of goods acquired through downriver trading. A side effect of the royalty moving from the area was that the scum moved in, the archives fell into disrepair.

By some miracle the building still stood, a monolith of white marble set upon the earth. It was almost as if the ancient magic of the place was the only thing holding it up. Will the scrolls still be in there?

Walking up the disheveled steps, I noticed Mariku staring at the building, not moving. He looked, startled? I couldn't place it, but he definitely did not look like his usual self.

"Mariku? Are you alright?" I asked.

Mariku slightly jumped at the sound of his name. Also noticing his strange behavior, Akefia turned around and went back towards Mariku. Obviously concerned for his friend.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Mariku just shook his head, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply.

Also sighing, Akefia laughed a little. "Always a man with many words, right Atem?"

Chuckling, I nodded. "Yes, maybe we should place him as an advisor, he always knows what to say."

Mariku rolled his eyes and snorted, but began to smile. Shaking his head, he headed up the stairs. Seeing that he was walking now, both Atem and Akefia followed.


End file.
